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The Sperry UFO case was a sighting of an Unidentified Flying Object by the captain, Willis Sperry, and other crew of an American Airlines DC-6 airborne near Mount Vernon, Maryland on 29 May 1950. Media exposure of the case helped to establish a popular perception of UFOs being reported by "credible" witnesses such as airline pilots; Sperry was interviewed for several newspapers and was later featured in Clarence Greene's 1956 semi-documentary film ''Unidentifed Flying Objects: The true story of flying saucers''.〔Willis Sperry was an experienced and respected pilot with a very wide flying experience, including the first (and only) attempt to deliver mail by towed glider, which took place in 1935 (see Glines, C. ''The Saga of the Air Mail'', Ayer, 1980, ISBN 0405122136, pp.143-44)〕 ==The sighting== Sperry's aircraft had left Washington Airport at 9:10 pm EST on a flight to Nashville and was climbing to 20,000 ft. Weather conditions were clear, with the ground obscured by haze, and a full moon around 25° above the horizon. At approximately 9:30pm, seven miles west of Mount Vernon, copilot W. Gates alerted Sperry to a bright blue or bluish light ahead of them and increasing in size.〔(Project Blue Book documents ) on Sperry case, NICAP (accessed 08-08-08)〕 In a letter to ''Flying'' magazine several months later, Sperry described the light as "a brilliant, diffused, bluish light of fluorescent type () 25 times the magnitude of the brightest star".〔Sperry, (Letter to ''Flying'' magazine, September 1950 ), Project 1947 (accessed 08-08-08)〕 To avert a possible collision, Sperry banked the aircraft and changed course 45° to the right; the light appeared to stop before changing course to parallel the aircraft on the left. During this period the light very briefly passed between the aircraft and the upper part of the moon, revealing an object with a long silhouette (somewhat reminiscent of a submarine) without visible wings or empennage. In his 1950 letter, Sperry stated the blue light was on the front of the object, which was also seen by the copilot and by flight engineer R. Arnholt.〔''Ibid''. In the 1955 interview deposited in Project Blue Book archives prior to the release of Greene's film, the blue light was stated to be on the object's tail.〕 The object having appeared to pass behind the left wing, the pilots banked to the left and resumed their previous course, but Gates spotted the light again through the right window "as though it had circled behind them".〔(Project Blue Blook documents ) on Sperry case, NICAP (accessed 08-08-08)〕 The light then appeared to head eastwards behind the aircraft, and was observed again by Sperry towards the rear left travelling in the direction of the Atlantic; he estimated the total time of observation as around one minute, during which time the light had appeared to be completely stationary at least twice.〔Sperry, (Interview by J. E. McDonald ), Project 1947〕 Sperry reported his observations to Washington control tower, but they had observed nothing on radar. He also spoke to his passengers, stating that one man had seen an "extremely bright light passing the left side of the ship".〔Sperry, letter to ''Flying'' magazine. In the 1955 interview "two or three" passengers and a stewardess were stated to have seen a light.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sperry UFO case」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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